Prof Nichola Raihani

Professor of Evolution and Behaviour

Experimental Psychology

Div of Psychology & Lang Sciences

Joined UCL

1st Oct 2011

Research summary

Although individuals are expected to benefit from selfish behaviour; cooperation is not only commonplace in nature,
but is of profound evolutionary and social significance, being
responsible for most of the major evolutionary transitions. I aim to elucidate the mechanisms that
maintain cooperation in interactions where partners may otherwise be
tempted to exploit one another. In parallel, I investigate the
ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of individual variation
in cooperative behaviour. To answer these questions, I work on a variety
of systems, including humans and non-human animals.